


Let's Try This Again

by WrittenKinzy18



Series: Winged Multiverse [5]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Undertale Multiverse | UTMV (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Wings, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bad Puns, Bad Sanses | Nightmare's Gang (Undertale), Chara & Frisk (Undertale) Share a Body, Dusttale Sans (Undertale), Edge ain't great here, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Errortale Sans (Undertale), Fluff and Angst, He might get better who knows, Horrortale Sans (Undertale), Houseplant Flowey (Undertale), Implied/Referenced Abuse, Inktale Sans (Undertale), Killertale Sans (Undertale) - Freeform, M/M, Minor Violence, Multi, Nonbinary Chara (Undertale), Nonbinary Frisk (Undertale), Physical Abuse, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Protective Sans (Undertale), Sans/Underfell Sans (Undertale), Slight Panic Attack, Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Undertale Monsters on the Surface, Undertale Saves and Resets, Wingfic, X-tale Sans (Undertale) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-28 03:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30132960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenKinzy18/pseuds/WrittenKinzy18
Summary: Red has some issues and Nightmare's Gang be scheming.Classic's real sick of his shit interfering with their family nights.
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Chara & Frisk (Undertale), Frisk & Sans (Undertale), Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Sans/Sans (Undertale), red/classic
Series: Winged Multiverse [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030311
Comments: 20
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a lot shorter than usual, and that's because I'm still struggling with the second half. I should be free from school work and such, so hopefully I'll get the second chapter out this weekend.
> 
> Until then, enjoy the first part that wasn't actually the main part or planned at all but it's here anyway.

“SANS! WAKE UP!”

Blearily, Sans blinked his eye sockets open, his eyelights still a bit hazy. Papyrus stood over the top of him with his hands on his hips and wings folded tight. He had a stern expression on his face, but it was tinted with softness, so Sans knew he wasn’t actually in any trouble.

“Mmm,” the shorter skeleton muttered, closing his eyes again and shuffling around on the couch he was currently sprawled across. “Five more minutes.”

“WE HAVE COMPANY! You can sleep later, lazybones!” Sans groaned as his brother picked him up from the couch and forced him into a standing position. His dull wing drooped to the floor, twitching in subtle attempts to balance the tired skeleton. His fatigue mixed with his asymmetry made that balance especially difficult.

Instead of his usual attire, Sans had a navy hoodie on, two slices from around the shoulders down to the bottom rim, lined with a few buttons to close the cloth around the wing bases. Well, in his case, just the one wing. The second slit was buttoned all the way to the top. He had to get a different jacket now that he had his wing out more often, as his usual blue one didn’t have wing slits in the back. Papyrus had tried to convince the lazy skeleton into getting something that _wasn’t_ a hoodie, but his usual clothes weren’t really the issue. Most of his shirts had slits. They were just always covered by his jacket.

He also still kept that jacket, despite his brother’s protests. Worn down or not, it was comfortable to him, and he usually preferred to have something uncut for when he had to go in public without his wing.

“I mean, the punk should know that,” Undyne spoke up from her spot on a nearby chair, Alphys comfortably in her lap. The captain’s large wings had almost fully encased the two of them, making it a bit difficult to see Alphys’ flustered face. “He took a nap _after_ we got here.”

“Correction,” Sans stated, opening a single eye socket cheekily. “I took a nap after _you_ got here. Not my fault you were early.”

“Whatever, loser! You’ll probably sleep through all the movies anyway!”

“I’m just _bone tired_ , Undies.”

Her wings fluffed indignantly. “THAT’S SO OLD!”

“As much as I adore the idea of a pun war,” another voice chimed in, “we should be moving along if we plan to finish a few movies before it’s too late. It’s a school night for Frisk and I, you know.” Sure enough, the others had arrived while he’d been sleeping. Toriel was knelt on the floor with Frisk, letting the human run their fingers through her long white feathers. The slight red gleam in their eyes added to the general uninterested expression signaled Chara’s presence, he noted with a slight twitch to his own wing. He didn’t let that uneasiness show elsewhere. Flowey was sat rather grumpily on the coffee table, and Asgore seemed to have just disappeared into their kitchen.

“Hell yeah!” Undyne piped up again. “Asgore and I still have to take snack orders, then we’re TOTALLY watching Godzilla!”

“Snack orders?”

“W-We agreed they would go get some more snacks for the night,” Alphys provided, smiling softly. “While you were s-sleeping, um, w-we all decided what Papyrus had in the k-kitchen w-wasn’t enough.”

“WHICH IS RIDICULOUS! I picked out the greatest of tiny food items! I even got popcorn!”

Undyne snorted. “Popcorn and vegetables don’t mix too well, Paps. And you got no fun beverages!”

Sans shrugged. “There’s chips in there, though.”

“There’s a single bag of Ranch Doritos, you _heathen._ ”

“Alright alright.” Asgore came back into the living room, chuckling deeply. His wings expertly dodged the few trinkets and picture frames they had around the room. He was much more careful than Papyrus or Undyne, which Sans was grateful for. At least when Sans knocked something over, he was able to catch it before it broke. You’d think, having grown up with these large appendages, some monsters would be just as careful. “It’s no trouble at all, and I’ll be sure we don’t have too many sweets.”

“And _I’ll_ make sure we get the good stuff! The monster _and_ human kind!”

“Undyne, please do not bring excessive amounts of sugar and fats into my home!”

Sans snorted while the two bickered energetically, turning his focus back to the King. Asgore merely shook his head fondly before looking back at Sans with a questioning expression. “Your boyfriend is coming today as well, is he not? We were all unsure when he was supposed to arrive, or if you were meant to, er, pick him up, I suppose?”

“Oh, right.” Slipping his hand in his hoodie pocket, he pulled out his phone to check the time. Since most Universes were stuck on inconsistent time loops, the multiverse Sanses had a separate timeframe they went by. They referred to it as the Doodle Sphere’s time and date, though it was really just made up by them. Nothing outside the universes, not even the bright and lush Doodle Sphere, actually had a concept of time, let alone night and day. Still, it helped keep them all in line together.

It was a little later than the time he and Red agreed on. That wasn’t much of a surprise, of course, and it certainly wasn’t hard to fix. It was likely that Red just forgot and took a nap. His Frisk was supposed to be just leaving Waterfall around this time, allowing the Underfell Sans time off.

Red was one of the few who had a human that knew about the multiverse. Classic didn’t know the full story of how they found out, but he did know it scared the shit out of a lot of the good Sanses, Red especially. Anyone that knew of the Resets were major risks when it came to knowing about things outside their universe. Sanses were at least wise enough to stick to a script when they had to, but Frisk, Flowey, or (more than likely) Chara weren’t always as careful.

Thankfully, it didn’t change much of anything in Red’s case. UF Frisk and Flowey understood the issue well, and their Chara didn’t give two shits about other AUs. They just saw Underfell as a hell that deserved destruction — why try to ruin happy alternatives?

That, at least, Classic could understand. If not for Red and his slight attachment to the place and his brother, Classic would have suggested they’d just taken Frisk, Flowey and Red then left the rest to rot.

He couldn’t do that to Red, though.

UF Frisk was a blessing in the disguise of a possessed kid. Their pacifist routes were undeniably longer and took so much more effort, but they still stuck to it as best they could. When Red needed out of the usual script, they allowed it without a sweat, just following their usual path without him.

That being said, they’d specifically set aside time during the current route for Red to come over for movie night. It would be the first time his boyfriend was back in the Classic Universe since their previous incident, so the others were rather excited. Sans just hoped this time would be better.

Then again, the last two times they tried to plan a family day ended in some big emotional roller coaster. Third time was the charm, right?

First thing first was actually getting his boyfriend here.

“No problem,” Sans shrugged, shooting a quick text to Red before pocketing his phone again. He gave a tired smile at the large goat monster. “I’ll get a portal open and drag him here if I hav’ta.”

Alphys immediately perked up, her little wings smacking Undyne in the face and cutting off her playful argument with Paps. “Y-You can do that?!”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Don’t like to, though. Interdimensional portals aren’t really a thing normal monsters are made for, y’know? We usually leave it up to Dream, Error, or Ink, ‘cause it drains us so much.”

“B-But still!” She squirmed excitedly. “Oooh, c-can I p-peak through it? O-Only for a second! I-I want to s-see what another universe _entirely_ would l-look like! I-Is it exactly the same? Maybe a different color scheme? D-Do they even have the same areas as us, like Ebott City? Or, if they’re still in the Underground, Hotland, Waterfall, all of that?”

“Uh,” Sans shuffled uncertainly, wincing a bit. His wing folded inward a bit. “Not the best AU to be doin’ that with, Al. Red’s world… It ain’t great.” Plus, he’d be opening the portal in Hotland. The last thing they needed was that world’s Alphys seeing another version of herself. It was risky enough to see the portal itself, but at least that they could play it off as being one of Red’s shortcuts. Still intriguing, but not enough for her to be any more of a danger for the rest of Frisk’s journey that timeline.

“Not great?” Toriel asked, her wings fluttering worriedly. Chara had finally turned their attention away from the goat monster’s wings, looking at him with an intrigued brow raised.

“Yeah, um, actually, I should probably talk to you about that.” His eyelights fell specifically on where Undyne, Alphys and Papyrus stood. “It’s probably best you guys don’t ask him anything about his AU. I’ll talk to him later about it, and if anything, he’ll probably let me answer questions instead, but just, for now? Leave it be.”

“Why?” Undyne questioned, tilting her head a bit, fins perking in curiosity. “Is it really that bad?”

“Let’s just say everyone in Underfell has a _bone to pick_ with each other,” he chuckled halfheartedly. “Constantly. Like, you breathe in the wrong direction and someone might fight you.”

“That sounds awesome, though!”

Papyrus’ wings flared out as the skeleton turned dramatically towards his brother, smiling widely. “They just haven’t experienced the charm of the Great Papyrus! I’m sure they’d be dazzled in no time, nyeheh!”

“Pff, they _have_ a Paps, Paps!”

“EVEN BETTER! _Twice_ the charm, twice the dazzlement!”

_Dazzled_ wasn’t quite the right term for it. _Terrified_ and _cautious_ was more like it. He couldn’t tell that to his brother, though. At least not now. Sans was sure the topic would come up eventually, what with Red’s occasional uncertainty or hostility around Papyruses, but that’d be another day.

“Just thought I’d mention it,” Sans shrugged, moving away from the couch a bit. “But, yeah, sorry Alphys. No nerding out on this one.”

The scientist pouted a bit but nodded in understanding. “T-that’s alright. Next time!”

He chuckled. “Next time.” As he held up his left hand, the short skeleton caught sight of his own dreary feathers. For a brief moment, he hesitated, debating the idea of hiding his wing. It wasn’t really needed, as Red had seen it once already. Sans knew he didn’t care and would likely be ecstatic to see him so comfortably letting it free. Still, it was habit to have it hidden around the other Sanses. The thought of leaving it out was… strange, almost uncomfortable.

That moment of uncertainty was brushed away quickly. Red would be happier if he left it as is. That counted as baby steps, yeah?

Plus, he was about to deplete enough energy as it was. There was no way Sans wouldn’t sleep through at least half of their movies, now.

Gathering as much magic as he could together, the skeleton concentrated it all in his hand. The bones glowed a bright blue, little streaks of yellow flickering amongst it as well. His white eyelights were replaced by that single blue ring of power as he focused on tearing a temporary hole through their universes. He vaguely heard his family’s interested coos behind him, finally getting a grasp on the “coding” he needed, as Error called it.

A separate ball of blue magic flared up beside him, expanding into a ring that grew larger and larger. Soon enough, there was a clear hole in the middle of the air, just bigger than the skeleton himself, showcasing the station he used to have at Hotland’s entrance. It looked almost the same, besides the extra chips, scratches, and burn marks across the wood. Overall, there was nothing super special about it. It looked like their own Underground.

Well, besides the two skeletons standing in front of it.

Red came barreling through the portal, face alit with panic as he clambered back into their living room. Toriel barely managed to pull Chara back from his frantic steps. A few black and red feathers dropped from his flapping wings as he moved, more torn and ragged than usual.

His Papyrus stood stunned on the other side, dark eye sockets staring confusedly at the portal. His outfit looked much like their own Papyrus’ battle body, just sharper and darker. He had large black wings behind him, neatly trimmed and cleaned without a feather out of line. A handful of other feathers — _Red’s_ feathers — were clutched tightly in his red gloved grip, scrunching them into a balled-up mess. It took only a startled moment for those pointed teeth to turn up in a snarl, a harsh glare pinned on his roughed-up brother.

Tripping backwards and landing on his pelvis, Red scrambled further back on their floor. “Close it close it _close it!”_ he yelled, eyelights shaking.

_“SANS!”_

_“Fucking close it!”_

Immediately, Classic released his hold on the portal, watching it snap shut just as the taller skeleton had a sharp bone formed in his hand and ready to throw. They last heard an infuriated shout as the gateway finally cut off.

Pushing aside his sudden fatigue, Sans was in front of Red in a soul beat, crouching down just in front of the panicked skeleton. He had a blooming bruise across his cheek bone and few scrapes along his palms, but otherwise looked alright physically. However, his highest concern were those sightless, hazy eyelights looking directly through him, and the slight tremor to his wings.

“Red?” he called, holding his hands out calmingly. “Red, hey, it’s okay. He’s not here. You’re safe, I promise.”

He heard a hesitant footstep behind him. “Is he-?”

Red immediately flinched at the sound of his brother’s voice. Sans threw up his wing, both blocking Papyrus’ advance and Red’s view of the taller skeleton. “Paps, I’m sorry, but you gotta back up here,” he muttered to the side. “I know you want to help, but right now is not the best time. Last thing we need is him attacking you.”

Silence flooded the room, broken only by the rattling coming from the skeleton in front of him. Eventually, he finally heard his brother take a step back. He relaxed a bit, scooching forward to better block Red’s view of the room.

Sans would much prefer being able to teleport him and Red up to his room, get a little privacy, but that wouldn’t happen unless Red did it. Not only is touching Red now usually a bad idea, but he didn’t have nearly enough magic to do something like that so soon. Best give them the illusion of privacy and deal with everything else afterwards.

“Red, can you look at me?” Sans said calmingly, trying to focus those crimson eyelights on himself rather than the wall. He continued to murmur calming phrases until their gazes finally met. Sans smiled a bit. “There you are, big guy.”

Red’s eye sockets squinted, his hands shakily coming up to grip at his skull. “F-Fuck,” he hissed. “Fucking… Fucking hell…”

“Deep breaths, Red. Can you do that?”

Those eyelights glared a bit at him. “D-Don’t fuckin’ need… need t’breathe…”

Laughing halfheartedly, the smaller skeleton shrugged. “We may not need to, but it still helps. Just take a few deep breaths to calm yourself, alright?”

Clenching his teeth and ducking his skull, the bigger skeleton gave a slight nod. For the next few minutes, the two focused on his breathing, watching his ribs expand and deflate underneath his dark jacket. Sans gave little encouragement, having done this many times before. His only stress were the prying eyes beyond his ruffled blue feathers, but he made sure no one could at least see Red’s turmoil.

Finally, after a short eternity, the deafening clatter of rattling bones faded away and both of them relaxed. Red still stared intently at the carpet beneath him, his brows furrowing in frustration.

“’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, Red.”

“The fuck, it’s not. I should be fuckin’ used to this. I’ve experienced fuckin’ worse than this!”

Sans raised an unconvinced brow. “You and I both know that just because you’ve been through worse doesn’t mean this can’t affect you.”

Red scrunched his eye sockets and curled in on himself a bit. “It fuckin’ _shouldn’t_.”

“But it _does_ , and that’s okay.”

“It’s _stupid._ ”

Sighing, Sans held out his hand. “You alright to take my hand?” There was a long moment where the other didn’t react, keeping his head bowed and folding his rough wings around himself. Sans waited for any kind of response. Patience had literally been injected into his bones. A few minutes was nothing.

Sure enough, Red eventually let go of his skull to grab Sans’ offered hand. As their fingers interlaced, Sans shuffled forwards again and fully sat between Red’s sneakers.

He ran his distal pads over those scraped phalanges for a moment before finally speaking up again, “You fight monsters almost on a daily basis. It ain’t safe there, and stars know you’ve had your fair share of battles outside your AU as well. But those weren’t your brother.” Sans’ white eyelights flickered up to look at Red’s face. “We all have low HP, Red. Fighting in general is rough. Fighting when you don’t _want_ to fight back? When you feel like you _can’t_ fight back? It’s scary, and you’re allowed to feel that way, Resets or not.”

“You say tha’ every time…”

“And I’ll keep saying it ‘till it gets through your thick skull, asshole.” The other snorted, drawing a smile from Sans. When it seemed most of the tension had drained away, the original finally asked, “What happened back there anyway?”

Red huffed, his grip tightening. “Frisk was callin’ the boss for whatever reason, probably havin’ issues with some’a the Guard, and they let it slip that I’d been sleepin’.”

“Oh.”

“Not the kid’s fault.”

“Course not. Wasn’t yours, either.” Red didn’t reply to that, though he didn’t really expect him to. “Hand me your phone for a sec.”

Those red eyelights flickered up to meet his in confusion. “Why?”

“So I can tell your Frisk to Load their last Save, if it was before they called your Paps. If not, they’ll have to Reset fairly soon.”

“They shouldn’t hav’ta Reset for somethin’ like this! Pacifist routes are hard enough as it is for the brat.”

“Yes, but Paps saw a whole room full of alternative monsters in a portal you willingly went through. He’s gonna wreak havoc anyway. And besides, you know the route won’t last until you guys get, uh, the other one under control.” He just barely caught himself in the end, reminding himself that they weren’t the only ones in the room. Best not name drop the demon child in front of their previous goat parents.

Red looked a bit defeated. “Yeah, but still.”

“Frisk won’t mind at all.”

“That’s part’a the problem.” Even so, he reached into his pocket and handed Sans his beat-up cell phone. He only had one now because it made for easier communication around the multiverse, after Ink had them all set up. When Sans flipped it open, he found there were already a list of texts from Frisk anyway, all frantic apologies. Of course, they’d been in Hotland as well. If they hadn’t seen the incident, they’d likely have heard of it through the grapevine. He sent a quick text back, telling them what happened and finding they’d already Loaded to fix everything, then handed the device back.

“You good to stand now?” the smaller monster asked, shuffling to his knees. Red grunted and allowed himself to be pulled up. Their wings finally fell back down from their protective shield.

“Oh, good!” Papyrus spoke up, standing from his spot on the couch. Before he could say anything else, Red had Sans pulled into a tight embrace and a bone summoned in his hand. A low rumble came from his ribs, though its effectiveness was dulled by the returning rattle of his bones.

“Wait wait wait!” Sans pushed away from Red’s grip, only managing to get a few inches. “Red, it’s my Paps, it’s fine!”

Everyone in the room sat at a respectable distance, giving the two skeletons their space. Undyne and Alphys even moved to the other side of the room, as their previous seat in the armchair had been right next to where Red ended up. Red’s eyelights flickered around the room in confusion and panic, his face flushing his namesake in embarrassment. After only a few moments, his eye sockets widened, and the bone attack dissipated.

He groaned, dipping his skull to Sans’ shoulder. “Right… movies er whatever.”

“Uh, yeah. You were late, so I was trying to pick you up.” Sans turned back to look at the others, fumbling with what to do. He didn’t want to cancel, and he knew that’d just make Red feel worse. But, Red definitely needed to cool down without prying eyes right now. If he could just buy the skeleton an hour or so…

His gaze landed on Asgore, who stood nearest to the front door. Idea coming to mind, he plastered on a familiar fake smile and turned back to his boyfriend.

“We were actually going to get snacks when you got here. How ‘bout you go rest in my room for a bit, and when we come back, we can watch those movies?”

Undyne blinked in confusion. “I thought we-?”

Alphys sat up in her girlfriend’s lap, quickly cutting Undyne off by pushing her hand to her mouth, then smiled nervously. “J-Just, um, t-tell us what you w-would… eat? W-What you’d l-like! Snack wise. Yeah. Haha…”

Red stared at her for a moment before letting his eyelights scan the room a bit. Knowing the ‘fell monster, being the Judge of his own universe and all, Classic figured he could see right through the flimsy excuse. Still, if nothing else, a Sans wouldn’t pass up a free opportunity to nap. Sure enough, his clipped wings slowly eased up again, drooping to the floor. He shuffled on his feet and muttered, “Got any mustard?”

Sans snorted, patting the tougher skeleton’s sternum. “Can’t _mustard_ up the courage to ask for anything else?”

A slight smile twitched on Red’s face. “You know I _relish_ a good drink.”

“That’s disgusting,” Flowey interrupted, glowering with slumping petals.

“You just have to _ketchup_ to our superior taste.”

Toriel giggled in the background, seemingly the only one (besides a currently growling flower) willing to make any noise. Though Papyrus looked like he was fuming on the inside, he kept uncharacteristically quiet. It was a bit unsettling, but Sans also knew it was likely for the best.

“I’ll get you some kind of spicy chips,” he said, turning his attention back to Red. “Any candy you like? Chocolate or somethin’?”

Red nodded, dragging a hand tiredly down his face. “Yeah, chocolate’s alrigh’. Non’a tha’ cookie cream shit, though.”

“Almond Joys?”

“Don’t you _dare._ ”

Chuckling, Sans herded Red towards the stairs with his wing. “Go lay down. We’ll be back in a bit.” He saw Red’s eyelights flicker to the feathered limb briefly before going along with the other’s directions. Nodding, the bigger skeleton finally made his way upstairs and down the hall to Sans’ room. As soon as the door was closed, Sans sighed and turned back to his family. “Sorry. I know a trip to the store wasn’t technically a part of the plan, but…”

“It is alright, Sans,” Asgore soothed, smiling reassuringly. “We understand the circumstances. It’s really no issue.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright to go with us?” Toriel asked, standing from her spot still on the ground. The kid — from this distance, he couldn’t tell who was in control at the moment — stayed cross legged on the carpet, hands planted firmly in their lap. “You said opening a portal took a lot of magic, and you do seem a little tired. Maybe you should stay home as well, keep him company.”

He waved her off gently, sticking his other hand in his jacket pocket. “Nah, he needs some time alone. As much of a cuddle bug as he is, trust me, he’d much rather _coop_ himself up for a bit.”

Papyrus finally let out a restrained sound, crossing his arms angrily. “You and your bird puns, I swear!” He took a breath to calm himself, then looked down at his brother with hesitant concern. “All of what happened… was that really…?”

“Alternative you?” Sans finished for him drearily. “Yeah. Outta the thousands of Papyruses in the multiverse, Underfell Paps is probably the only one I _don’t_ like. Like I said, in Underfell, everyone has some kind of hatred for literally everyone else. Even their families don’t really work the same as other universes.” He shook his head, eying the door upstairs a bit. He didn’t want to say too much, especially if Red was still able to hear them. Folding his wing inward, he focused a bit of his remaining magic to make it disappear. The wave of exhaustion that washed over his bones immediately afterwards nearly had him regretting it. He’d have to be sure to grab a granola bar before they left. “We should go. We’ll be back sooner, and I can spend more time sleeping through the films.”

That earned him a few chuckles around the room as everyone stood to get ready.

A few minutes later and a quick energizing snack, the group had departed the house and were making their way down the street. Usually, most of them could pile into one of the goat monsters’ cars, and the remaining two or three were teleported with Sans. Papyrus had a car as well, but it only seated two, maybe three people, so it wasn’t ideal for all of them. With Sans out of commission at the moment, and with a small grocery store just down the hill from their neighborhood, the group decided to walk.

Tiring and not his favorite option, but at least it gave Red more time to himself. He’d deal with it this time. Less gas money anyway.

Sans took up the rear, his smaller figure unable to keep up with the others. Alphys was lucky enough to catch a (surprise) ride from her girlfriend, and he was just debating the idea of annoying Paps into doing the same when the human of the group slowed down to walk beside him. Raising a boney brow, Sans looked down at the kid, grumpy flowerpot in their hands, questioningly.

“Need something, kiddo?” They shrugged, turning a blank red glance back at him. He hummed thoughtfully. “Chara. You don’t usually care to chat with a bag’a bones like me.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t usually have something in common,” they mumbled back, fixing their stare ahead again. It took him a solid second to understand what they’d meant. When it clicked, his shoulders tensed a bit uncomfortably. That was a lot more information than he’d ever gotten from the kid. Judging by Flowey’s half-glance, he wasn’t the only one. They grunted in what was almost annoyance. “I don’t like you.”

“Dully noted.”

They ignored him. “Out of all the monsters I’ve met, you’re the most annoying. You know too much and either don’t say anything about it, as if the issue will just go away, or you rub it in my face. Your humor’s shit and you’re disgusting on a good day. Who the fuck drinks ketchup?”

“It’s basically a smoothie, y’know. Tomatoes are fruits.”

This time, they glared at him, but still didn’t respond. “ _But_ , I get what it’s like to have a shitty family. Kinda hoped monsters were different, but then again, they killed kids for dumb reasons. I’ve known they were just as bad as humans since Frisk’s first fall. I don’t know why I’m ever surprised anymore.”

Well, that was something they could agree on at least.

“And don’t get me wrong: this isn’t me offering help or a shoulder to cry on or whatever.” Flowey snorted in their hold, pointedly staring at the gossiping monsters ahead of him. “Despite what Frisk wants, I doubt we can be buddy buddy, you _or_ your weird alternatives. Friends seems a little out of the realm of possibilities after how many times we’ve stabbed each other, in the back or otherwise.”

Sans shifted his hands in his pocket, shrugging. “Maybe. Seems a bit pessimistic but guess I can’t _judge_ you on that.” They huffed. Whether out of annoyance at his dark joke or as a short laugh, he wasn’t sure.

There was a short silence between the two of them for a moment, broken only by Papyrus’ excited shout of something or another, followed by Undyne’s cheers. Then, Chara finally sighed and looked away before muttering, “Friends isn’t an option, but I _guess_ we haven’t really just tried… _getting along_ yet. Avoiding each other is getting stupid, and I’m tired of Frisk trying to tell me what to do or how to fix this.”

Ah, so that’s what this was about. He supposed that was fair enough. “Ain’t really a way to _fix_ any of that, maybe. But, then again,” he winked their way, smiling a bit, “it never really happened in the first place, now, did it?”

Truthfully, he didn’t care much for Chara either. He knew there was some kind of motive there, even if he didn’t fully understand what it was. A kid, dead or not, didn’t just suddenly decide to go psycho murderer on the people that were their family for no reason. It was probably something to do with their past family, or this negative view on both humans and monsters, though that wasn’t really his place to ask. It wasn’t really his place to assume or guess, either, but that was just the inner Judge in him. No matter what, that didn’t erase the trauma and nightmares of seeing the Underground covered in monster dust and stray feathers.

(The mere thought coupled with the sight of Papyrus’ scarf fluttering in the wind, framed by white, fluffy clouds rather than cold snow didn’t help much either.)

But, it was also annoying walking around the kid, or constantly checking for behavior or other outwards signs of who is in that small, striped body. He was tired, and really, that seemed to contribute to most of his decisions anyway.

Chara stared at him blankly for a moment, enough for it to get a little awkward. Then their expression soured to a glare. His smile faltered a bit in confusion, but before he could ask further, that red tint to their eyes was gone. Frisk looked at him apologetically, giving a little shrug.

He sighed. “Ah well. _Boned_ that somehow, didn’t I?” They giggled. “That’s alright.” The two continued walking in silence, finding they were just leaving the neighborhood area and entering more city-like streets. The traffic picked up the closer they got to their destination, and the buildings were starting to change from homes to stores. Likely in a few minutes, they’d be at the small grocery store and running through the aisles in no time.

For now, the comedian nudged the kid next to him playfully. “You picked out most of the movies, right?” They smiled brightly, nodding with excitement. He chuckled. “Figured. Undies was excited for Godzilla, but she usually picks some kind of anime action-romance.” The kid, seemingly not up for talking at the moment, signed a quick question with one hand, their other arm wrapped tightly around Flowey’s pot to hold him up. He nodded, coming to a stop at a crosswalk as the others waited for cars to pass. “Yeah, Red’ll like most anything, don’t worry. They don’t get a lot of movie nights in Underfell. I’m sure he’ll enjoy giant, human-versions-of-monsters fighting in a city.”

Smiling, Frisk carefully signed, _Be okay?_

“Yeah. Everything’ll be fine, don’t worry. I just hope you’re ready to cheer up a couple’a sad piles of bones tonight. That seems to be your specialty.” He winked.

They grinned back, pumping their fist with a determined look. Chuckling, he reached out to ruffle their hair. “You’re a good kid. I mean, I think, at least. I don’t know too many.” They punched his arm lightly, laughing with him. Flowey groaned at the sudden movement, crossing his leaves like they were arms.

“OH! SANS! Is that another you-friend?”

Still snickering to himself, Sans turned his attention to his brother. “What, Paps?”

Wings fluffing up, Papyrus pointed ahead of them with a beaming smile. “Ahead of us! Is that another Sans-look-a-like? Should we invite him along, as well?”

Furrowing his brows with an uncertain smile, Sans stepped forward in between his brother and Toriel, eyelights searching for the figure in question.

Sure enough, leaning up against a brick building just beside an alleyway ahead of them was a familiar skeleton. He was wingless with a washed-out blue jacket, the grey hood pulled over his skull. The only reason he could tell they were a skeleton at all, let alone a Sans, was from his exposed hands, finicking distractedly with a pocketknife. Plus, he had the all too familiar red scarf, battered as it was, wrapped loosely around his neck.

That lingering smile faded to as much of a frown as his teeth could make, his soul tightening with uneasy confusion. “Dus-?”

A pain shot through his ribs, excruciating and numbing at the same time. It was almost familiar, had it not stemmed from both his spine _and_ chest. He choked on his breath for a moment, eyelights trailing down to see his brand-new navy hoodie speared through with a large, glowing red blade.

A splatter of what he could only assume was the weird, red concoction that made up his bone marrow sprayed across his shoes.

Blearily, he registered the panicked shouts of his name around him, fuzzy as his mind struggled to catch up. Beside him, though it sounded muffled, as though his head were submerged in water, he heard the words, “Sorry, Class. Nothing personal.”

The knife was yanked from his torso, leaving the skeleton to fall to the ground. Immediately, there were hands on him, small and large. Gentle touches only left dust in their wake as his body struggled to stay together. Screaming and frantic cries sounded all around, but Sans could barely focus on the teary face of Frisk in front of him, their hands hesitating to touch his skull as it crumbled and dusted.

There was fighting around him, a shout of _“Grab the kid!”_ , then nothing.

**...Previous SAVE FILE Loaded...**


	2. SAVE FILE Loaded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Original Undertale isn't as untouchable as they all thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HnnnNNGGG this wasn't supposed to get so long OOF.
> 
> The second chapter was reaching 13k words, so I split it up. I am SO sorry, but the last part is almost done, I swear. XD I said I'd update and I'm sticking to that.
> 
> Also, for convenience sake  
> Nonwinged Monsters:  
> Ink  
> Cross  
> Dust

Red jolted awake abruptly, wings snapping out in his surprise.

That wasn’t unusual for him, given where he grew up. Waking in a flash at the smallest of noises was key to survival in Underfell. A sleeping monster was a dead one. However, as his red eyelights scanned the room, no further sounds reached his skull. The house was still quiet. It had always been quiet.

Confused, Red sat up on the messy mattress.

It took him all of a minute to register this was not, in fact, his bedroom. It was Classic’s. Compared to his own, this one was larger and messier, clothes haphazardly tossed around the edges of the room. The tornado still flourished in the back corner beside an actual closet door, and framed photos of monsters and humans that weren’t his own hung on one of the walls. There were even a couple blue feathers laying around, surprisingly. Those had never been there before, in the few times he’d visited.

Most importantly, sunlight streamed in through the closed curtains, something they most definitely did not have Underground.

The relief of remembering how he’d gotten there (that he was safe and not in immediate danger of his brother or spontaneous break ins) was quickly washed away, replaced with anxiety and confusion.

What woke him up? No noises came from outside the room, other than faint chirping of birds or the occasional car. The others weren’t home yet, judging by the lack of chatter from downstairs. Even if they were quiet — which he seriously doubted — Classic would have come up to get him for movies. If no one was here, why did he wake up so suddenly?

Red reached over to Classic’s nightstand, clicking his cellphone on and squinting at it in the semi-dark. The only notifications were a few texts from his Frisk, and Classic’s warning that he was coming to pick Red up. He hadn’t even been sleeping for ten minutes.

“What the fuck,” he muttered, shuffling out of the bed. Briefly, he wondered if there _was_ a break in, and if that had woken him up. While they were certainly less common in Undertale, it wasn’t completely outside the realm of possibilities. If anything, they’d be much easier to handle here, where the assholes were likely in it for thieving rather than quick EXP. A short peak outside the door and down the stairs eased this worry a bit. There was no broken windows or open doors. Nothing seemed amiss, besides his own feelings.

Scratching his skull, Red dragged his way back into Classic’s room and sat heavily on the bed. His wings drooped behind him. “’m just… paranoid,” he reasoned, running a hand down his face. His claws scraped at the bruise along his cheek, sending a ping of pain through his bones that was easily ignored. “Fuckin’ hell. Can’t even relax outside my AU.” Images of his brother’s face, enraged and yelling, flickered through his mind. The skeleton shook them away and laid back down.

Chances were, with this uneasy feeling in his soul, he wouldn’t be getting back to sleep any time soon. The fatigue, embarrassment, and lingering fear of his confrontation minutes ago was pushed aside unwillingly, drowned out by this sudden wakefulness.

That was fine. He was used to that. Hopefully, he’d be able to catch a few Zs with Classic while they watched movies later.

For now, he set aside his paranoia and snatched his phone again, deciding to flip through old memes rather than to wallow in his overactive thoughts.

-:(o):-

Chuckling, he reached out to ruffle their hair. “You’re a good kid. I mean, I-“ Sans froze, his lazy smirk falling from his face immediately. Frisk was staring up at him in absolute terror, their little hands quivering. For once, Flowey didn’t seem to care about the jerky movement making his pot shake, too busy scanning the streets in confusion. They took a step closer to him. He almost wished he had his wing out to wrap around their small frame.

A Load. Frisk’s latest Save was literally minutes before the Gang comes in. Really, less than a minute, as they would all remember as well and would be able to react faster now.

A Load brings the timeline back to the moment the kid felt the most determined. No matter who or what was in the universe, belonging there or not, they would all revert to that very spot at that very time. Classic had no idea if they had planned to wait until Frisk saved or if it was just unfortunate luck, but either way, it didn’t matter.

He had no idea why they were here. It had to have something to do with the original AU. Killing him would screw up the entire multiverse _if_ it was done outside of Undertale. Here, he was a valid target — and a _weak one_ at that. Classic prayed they didn’t know that, but even if not, they’d likely figure it out fast.

He was suddenly very glad to have scarfed down that granola bar before leaving. It wasn’t much, but that little amount of energy could mean life or death here.

“Fuck,” he muttered, immediately grabbing Frisk’s arm to pull them close. His memory of dying was foggy, but he could still hear someone’s call demanding the child. It was likely he wasn’t the only target. He might not have been the target at all. They were likely trying to take out the strongest first, underestimating the time it took OG Frisk to Load.

“OH! SANS! Is that another-?”

Now, he wasn’t distracted. He could just make out the faint sound of a blade slicing through the air behind him.

Cross wouldn’t get him this time, no matter how stealthy the bastard was.

Sans side stepped the red knife aimed for his chest, yanking the kid and flower along with him. Cross’ attack lodged itself into the sidewalk with a loud _crash_ , jolting the others to rapid attention. They all tensed, looking unsure of what to do. Undyne immediately set her girlfriend down behind her, calling a spear to her hand. Still, even she hesitated, and Classic couldn’t really blame her. The last time they had a seemingly threatening confrontation with an alternative, it turned out to be Classic’s boyfriend.

The colorless skeleton yanked his weapon free easily, turning his duel-colored eyelights towards Classic with an almost bored expression. “Hey, Class,” he said under the black fabric covering his teeth.

Casually, but still cautious, Classic nodded back. In his pocket, his fist wrapped tightly around the small vial of emergency blue paint, the other one holding Frisk firmly to his side. The original Sans could see two of the Gang, but that by no means meant the others weren’t nearby as well. In fact, considering they were attacking the main Undertale, all four of them were most likely here. “Sup. I’d say it’s _knife_ to see ya, but that’d be a lie.”

“Sorry. Orders are orders.” He held up the blade again, pointing to Frisk. “We’re gonna need the kid for a sec.”

“Ah, see, that’s not something I can do.”

“We weren’t asking.”

“And I’m not offering.” Ripping out his hand, Classic went to throw the glass vial to the ground. His movement didn’t get very far before a knife flew through the air and embedded itself in his radius. He hissed, dropping the container harmlessly to the floor.

A snickering laugh came from behind him. Pulling the kid closer, he spun partially around to keep both skeletons in view. Killer stood in the street, an amused grin on his face and several more knives in his hands. His large, jet black wings stretched out low to the ground behind him. Cars were stopped all along the road, most humans and monsters peeking out, uncertain if they should watch or run. “Can’t have you calling the Stars on us,” he practically sang.

“Sans!” Papyrus yelled, rushing towards his brother. Cross stopped his advancements by swinging out his blade, nearly slicing the taller skeleton’s ribs. This seemed to shake the others from their stupor, all immediately pulling out their respective attacks save for Alphys, who seemed to be on the phone (she was likely calling the police, not that it would help much.)

“Shit,” Classic hissed, refusing to release his grip on Frisk’s arm to pull the knife out. He silently thanked the stars that he took a nap before leaving, feeling his HP drop significantly from its comfortable 11.

“Who the fuck are you punks?!” Undyne hissed, her wings held up in a protective arch.

“Duh,” Killer snorted, wiping a bit of the black liquid dripping from his eyes on the back of his sleeve. “Sanses. Who the fuck do you think we are?”

“Classic, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” Cross muttered, narrowing his eye sockets.

Grimacing, Classic sent a heated glare his way. “Yeah, you lost all chance to cooperate with me when you literally stabbed me in the back.” He noticed Cross’ slight wince but couldn’t bring himself to feel bad about it.

“Surely there’s a better way to handle this!” Papyrus insisted, throwing his arms and wings out with a slightly hesitant smile. “We could talk-“

Several Gaster Blasters fizzled into existence in front of Classic, not wasting any time in listening to a Papyrus peace spiel. The sight of such large weapons had the few spectators watching from the outside running away from the fight immediately. Dust gave a chilling smirk, holding out a hand as balls of purple energy charged in each of their maws.

Cursing, the classic Sans forced his own Blaster to manifest around him and the human child, blocking the oncoming blast. It’s skull cracked and creaked under the pressure, but Classic held it firm as well as he could, only allowing it to shatter when the attack wore down. Beads of sweat poured down his face from the effort, but he didn’t get time to rest as Killer was on them almost immediately after.

There was no way he’d be able to keep himself, the kid, _and_ Flowey safe as he was. As much as he’d prefer keeping the target of their attention close by, Classic knew he’d need to drop them off in someone’s more capable hands for this battle.

Or, more accurately, more capable _paws._

Besides Asgore, Toriel was the strongest boss monster here. That wouldn’t hold the Gang off for long, but hopefully the Original Toriel was strong enough to gain him some time.

He teleported Frisk straight into their adoptive mother’s arms. Before he could do anything else, Classic noted the shadow above the group and barely reacted in time to pull Undyne by her wing through another shortcut to avoid the axe aimed at her head.

Finally, the last of the group showed his cracked face, confirming Classic’s earlier assumption. Horror popped in with a burst of red magic, his nightmarish wings dragging the bone of each exposed phalange across the floor. “You’re no fun, Class,” he grumbled, his axe already back in his hands.

“Sorry,” he huffed humorlessly, letting go of Undyne’s wing. The Captain was trying to regain her own senses, unused to his shortcuts. “I’ll try to be more entertaining the next time you try and kill my family.”

Snorting, Horror swung his weapon around towards Toriel and Frisk. The child just managed to pull their mom away before they got hit, simultaneously dodging the bones and knifes thrown at them in a sequence afterwards. Asgore managed to catch Cross’ large knife with his trident, pinning it to the ground in a clash of red magic. The skeleton barely blinked, dropping the trapped weapon to summon another one, swinging it dangerously close to the king’s throat.

With Cross distracted, Papyrus had finally made his way to Sans’ side, carefully pulling the blade from his arm. They ignored the swell of red that flowed from the wound as it wasn’t serious enough to treat in the middle of the battle. Only wincing a bit, Classic immediately focused in on the fray again. The Gang seemed to be kept busy enough to ignore them, allowing Classic the perfect opportunity to talk. Grabbing Undyne’s wing for her attention, he pointed towards the blue vial laying sideways on the sidewalk, in the very center of the battle. “We need to smash that bottle,” he said, bringing up a wall of bones to block another Blastor’s beam.

“Why?” she hissed, yanking free from his grip. “How the fuck is that going to help us? Are you hoping they’ll slip on some fucking paint?!”

“It’ll tell Ink that something is wrong and bring the Star Sanses here,” he explained, shooting a glare back at her. “I can’t hold them back. We need them here.”

“Who even are they?” Papyrus asked lowly, looking on with concern at Horror specifically. “They’re… you, but…”

“The Bad Sanses, or the Gang. Murderous versions of me. Paps, do _not_ try and reason with them. Dust and Killer especially.” He pointed to each skeleton respectfully, summoning another femur bone to block the oncoming knife Killer sent their way in response. “They have no qualms with killing a Papyrus. And Undyne, Horror _especially_ has it out for you. Avoid him if you can.”

“That the asshole that threw a fucking axe at me?”

“Yeah, that’d be him.”

“Should I ask why the fuck he hates me so much?”

“Remember when I mentioned there was a skeleton who’s Undyne threw a spear through his skull?”

She flinched back immediately, eye widening in disgust. Experienced as she was, the fish monster quickly shook it off, though her grip on her spear stayed tight. Tensely, she nodded determinedly, flicking out her wings. “Get the vial. Got it.”

“And protect Frisk,” he added, staring at where the kid was expertly dodging most the attacks sent their way. Toriel stayed close to their side, paws alit with flames and her pearl white wings spread behind her — a looming, motherly presence protecting her child. Classic knew leaving them with her would be best, as he could barely keep enough energy to protect himself at this point.

(And wasn’t that a bit pathetic? Here he was, supposedly one of the strongest Sanses in the multiverse due to him being the root of everyone else, struggling just to stay standing. He wondered if that was planned on the Gang’s part as well, but doubted it. It was clear from earlier that Cross saw him as enough of a threat to take out first.)

When he glanced to his side, Papyrus still looked incredibly shaken, feathers twitching uneasily, but his expression solidified into a resolute look. He hesitantly summoned a few bones of his own. He would never be able to hurt the other Sanses, Classic knew, but he had enough faith in his brother’s training in self-defense at the very least.

With that, the two taller monsters ran back into the fray. Undyne immediately went to help Asgore while Papyrus ran towards Frisk. Classic kept his eyelights firmly on that bottle in the center of it all, trying to figure a way to it without getting dusted. Currently, each of the bad skeletons had someone to focus on, leaving Classic to himself (besides the few misfires here and there). They likely realized he wasn’t as much of a threat in his state, as insulting but true as it was. That would surely change the minute he tried to go in for the paint, however. Undyne was nearest to the vial, holding off both Cross and Horror while simultaneously trying her best to either step on the glass or hit it with a spear. Neither skeleton, despite also dealing with Asgore, let her successfully reach it, but the Captain in turn never let them grab it.

The road was quickly becoming a mess of destruction. Asphalt and concrete were getting torn away from the ground and cars were flipped left and right. Toriel was doing her best not to damage the nearby buildings, but many of her flames were still scorching brick and wood alike. Bones of all kinds jutted up from the street and abandoned weapons littered the area. Both Flowey and Alphys were nowhere to be seen on the deserted road. Though, the occasional worried glance Toriel sent towards the alleyway Dust had been by told him all he needed.

Classic’s eye sockets narrowed, an idea coming to mind.

Whipping his hand from his pocket, he caught Horror’s soul in blue magic just as he leapt at Undyne. With a huff, he smashed the bigger skeleton into the nearest building. Unfortunately, Classic couldn’t hold him there long as he suddenly became the target of both Dust and Killer’s shots. Still, he was able to hold the other off Undyne long enough to shout, _“Kick it to Alph!”_ Undyne briefly sent him a confused look, scanning the area in a swift glance. She must have spotted the two hiding monsters, as her face lit up with a triumphant grin.

Dropping to the ground, her foot slid out to knock the vial towards the alleyway. Several eyes watched it slide across the pavement. All bones sent to block its path were stopped by Papyrus’ own attacks. Unhindered, the little object was free to slide between two parked cars and clink against the curb.

For a heated moment, Classic feared Alphys hadn’t been paying attention. This entire in-the-moment plan relied on her observatory skills, both in being called out and having seen Classic try to break the bottle earlier.

As he ducked under several sharpened purple bones, no longer having the energy to properly dodge, he could only hope she noticed, or that Frisk could Load again soon. He didn’t like relying on Saves, but it was a saving grace right now he’d gladly take advantage of.

However, the stars decided to have mercy on them for once in his life. Alphys, shaken and terrified as she was, scrambled out from her alley hiding spot and scooped up the vial in shaking hands. Her actions had every Bad Guy in the area immediately focused on her, triggering her to yip and trip backwards. Asgore grabbed both Cross and Horror to keep them from sprinting, and Undyne tackled Killer to the floor ruthlessly, pinning both of his dark wings with her own. Even Frisk managed to wrap their little hands around Dust’s red scarf, yanking him to the floor.

Still, the hooded Sans managed to throw one purple bone Alphys’ way, which was intercepted painfully by the appearance of a long, thorned vine. It stabbed through the vine easily but was successfully halted. The point of the attack just barely skimmed her snout’s scales through the plant’s shield.

“Fucking _do it already!”_ Flowey yelled from somewhere behind her. The scientist yelped fearfully, squeezed her eyes shut and throwing the vial at the ground in front of her.

Classic felt most of the tension in his figure ease as the sound of shattering glass reached his skull.

“Mother fucker,” he heard Killer hiss, still struggling to get Undyne off of his back.

In a flash, that blue paint erupted from the ground and slipped down to reveal Ink in his surprisingly wingless glory. His greeting smile was wiped away, not when seeing the destruction around him, but when his knee bumped one of the cars he’d been summoned between, setting off its alarm.

“Uh, oops?” he muttered, carefully sliding from between the two vehicles sheepishly. “Why would you summon me here? Kinda a weird place. But I guess it’s not the _weirdest_ place I’ve been called.” His gaze trailed up, finding Alphys shivering and staring at him in confusion. His eyelights flickered to question marks. “You’re not a Sans.”

Classic would have found this funny, had he not seen Cross nearly slice Asgore’s arm off to get away and aim a blade at Frisk once again. “Fuck!” he hissed, shooting to his feet and grabbing the kid’s soul with Blue magic to jolt them out of the way.

This finally caught Ink’s attention. The _so-called_ Protector whipped around, goofy exterior draining away at the scene before him. Eyelights now a red crosshair and exclamation point, he swept his Broomie up, sending waves of crimson paint at Cross.

“What are you guys doing here?” he hissed, uncharacteristically hostile. His splatter of paint just barely missed its target, but the puddles just molded together to make a large, red Blasters.

“Following orders,” the monochrome skeleton offered, glaring heartily back.

“You’re in the main Universe!”

“We’re aware.”

As Ink quickly downed a sip of his red vial, the paint-Blastor shot a white beam at Dust, who just teleported away in time. The creator then sank into a newly created puddle, reforming beside Classic. He tossed him his cell phone. “Call Error. I’ve already contacted Dream. He should be getting Blue now.”

Classic caught the device with furrowed brows. “Error?”

“Oh, yeah,” Ink laughed humorlessly. “He’s totally protective of your AU. The Gang’s _fucked._ ”

With that helpful explanation, the Protector was gone, meeting Horror head on. Classic had no idea what wood Ink’s brush was made of, but he was pretty impressed it could hold up against an axe.

He leaned against a nearby car, one of the many that had been abandoned in the streets. Flipping open Ink’s phone, which was a blindingly bright green, he noticed an extra button on the bottom of the keypad. It had a little star symbol on it that was currently flashing yellow. “Huh,” he muttered before shaking his head and opening the contacts.

By the time he cycled through and realized “Ruru” was Error’s contact name, Toriel, Papyrus, and Frisk had made it to his side. The goat mom was immediately fretting over his bleeding arm, but still held Frisk — well, Chara close and shielded in her wings.

“Who on earth would you need to call _now_ of all times, brother?” Papyrus asked incredulously, also reflexively wrapping his wings around the two of them. Though his voice was stern, his eyes were kept firmly on the fight mere feet away from them, likely making sure none of them moved over here.

Classic huffed a laugh and held up his uninjured hand peacefully before finally calling the Destroyer.

Only two rings in, and he heard a glitchy voice growling in his ear. “ _Squid_ , I swear to Reaper himself, if you ask me one more _fucking time_ if I can come over and look at whatever the fuck your drawing, I will tear your sketchbooks apart, _starting with the ones of me_.”

Classic snorted. “Uh, as _sketchy_ as that sounds, we’ve got bigger issues.”

There was a long pause before Error sighed and asked, “What fucking Sans is this?”

“Classic here. What’s up, glitchy me?”

“Classic? Why do you-?”

“I’d love to sit here and chat, but the Gang for some reason decided they need to try and kill my Frisk today in front of basically everyone. _Hue_ ’d be doin’ me a real favor popping in maybe?”

There was a long pause, of which he spent watching Ink slam Killer into the street asphalt, scattering black feathers everywhere. Dust was pinned to a car in black ink already, and Horror was sporting a broken axe now. Even so, he continued to use the handle as a spear, though he didn’t look happy about it.

On the other side of the line all Classic could hear was static.

“Error?”

As if an answer in and of itself, a white, glitchy portal opened up beside them. A flurry of blue strings shot out, wrapped around the four of them, and yanked them all through. They landed on the white ground in a pile of tangled wings and limbs, followed quickly by two, much smaller piles consisting of Undyne and Asgore, and Alphys and Flowey. The strings then slackened their hold, allowing them all to move again.

The last thing they heard before the three separate portals closed were sirens, Ink’s shout of joy, and Error’s _“You MOTHER FUCK-!”_

A long silence stretched out amongst them all, accompanied only by the slight shuffling as they picked themselves up and their tired, heavy breathing. But, in the absolute nothingness they were in, devoid of even a soft breeze, the sounds stood out as if put through a megaphone.

When their minds had all finally caught up with their bodies, it was Undyne to break the trance.

“What the _fuck_ was that?!” she yelled, finally scrambling to her feet with a sparking spear still in her hands. Strings hung from her wings and arms like tinsel on a tree. She stepped closer to her girlfriend, who immediately latched onto her leg, little yellow wings shaking anxiously.

“Where the hell are we now?” Flowey grumbled. He struggled to stand his pot back up, dumping dirt onto the colorless floor.

As Classic sat up once again, unwrapping blue strings from his arms, he glanced around briefly.

“Ah.” He stood up unsteadily, tilting his head at the few furniture that was around them. A blue beanbag sat in front of a TV and bright red rug, one tan cushioned chair off to the side, a pile of boxes, and a lone bookshelf filled more with dolls and knitting supplies than actual books. Behind it all was a large, low hanging hammock made of blue strings, piles of blankets, plushies, and pillows messily thrown on it like a rainbow-colored mess. He’d seen the place through Error’s portals before, but none of them had actually been allowed in. Error was usually very adamant about that. “The Anti-Void. Error must’ve really wanted to get us out of there.”

Asgore sent him a confused glance, his trident still firmly held in his paw. There was a trickle of blood staining his flowery shirt by his shoulder from Cross’ earlier attack. Besides multiple cuts and bruises all around, he and Sans seemed to be the only one with somewhat concerning injuries. “Anti-Void?”

With a shrug, Sans hobbled his was over to the beanbag, flopping into it carelessly. He was sure Error wouldn’t be happy, but he was too exhausted to care. They were about the same size. He was sure the butt-imprint wouldn’t be much different. “I don’t really know what it is except that it’s the opposite of the Void. Hence the name. It’s where Error lives.”

“You’ve mentioned Error before, yes?” Toriel asked. She was slowly releasing Chara from their grasp, allowing the child to wonder over to Flowey. Both of them continued to gaze up at the ceiling.

“Yeah. He’s the Destroyer of AUs. Him and Ink keep the multiverse balanced.”

“Are those… souls?” Chara muttered, staring in a horrified wonder above them.

Sure enough, thousands of souls, both monster and human, were strung up like a morbid spider web. A bunch of dolls, each designed as different monsters, were laced about them as well. A few of them had feathers of all kinds attached to their string like little additional ornaments. The hearts pulsed to their own silent rhythm, giving the white above them an eerie, multicolored glow.

“What the fuck…” Undyne muttered.

“I… he is… on our side, correct?” Papyrus asked uncertainly, hovering close to his older brother.

“Yeah, don’t worry. He wouldn’t hurt anyone for no reason, especially not the OG universe.”

“Ah, well… Good! Any friend of yours is a friend of the Great Papyrus!”

Sans smiled, grateful for the trust Papyrus had in him. Everyone slowly started to settle down with that bit of info. The entire situation was still disconcerting and strange, but at least they weren’t in danger of dying here.

Well, as far as he knew. Error must not like visitors here for a reason. He figured he’d keep that concern to himself, for now.

After wondering around the little area for a bit, Chara sat themself and Flowey beside his beanbag. Sans raised a brow at them questioningly. They glared back. “What?”

“Curious on why you’re back so soon.”

“I’m better at dodging. Had more _practice._ ”

Fair enough.

With an accepting nod, the skeleton pulled out Ink’s phone yet again. His own, unsurprisingly, was not in his pocket. Truly, Sans couldn’t remember if he left it at home, or if it maybe fell out somewhere in the fight. In the end, it didn’t matter. He could always have Ink make a new one later.

Hanging up the call to Error, which was just fuzzy noise at this point, he flipped through the contacts once again. Despite him being the Protector of the Multiverse, Sans couldn’t help but be a little surprised that Ink had as many contacts as he did. Classic himself, and nearly every other Judge he knew of, were bound to have a long contact list, especially now that they could connect with each other. He was almost proud to admit that he likely collected every monster’s number in the Underground. None of them were listed by name (it was much funnier to have them as puns), but he knew who each one was.

Ink, though, didn’t have an Underground to collect numbers from. Well, technically he had a thousand Undergrounds, but no _reason_ to collect numbers like Sans did. Still, his contact list was much longer and so much harder to sort through. Of course the Protector had the gall to add emojis to the names.

At first, Sans considered it probably sensible. He knew an entire multiverse after all. Why wouldn’t he have a shit ton of phone numbers?

… Then he realized a lot of them were repeated. It was much more likely that the other just forgot he already had one and made contacts for all of them multiple times.

He snorted at the thought, finally finding one of Red’s many entries. His thumb hovered over the call button, debating whether it was the best idea. Red was probably (hopefully) sleeping in Classic’s room. Calling would be most likely to wake him up. Despite his obviously serious circumstances, Classic couldn’t bring himself to call after the episode he witnessed that morning.

Instead, he sent the Underfell skeleton a text, explaining the basics and telling him to get in contact with Dream should they not be home before he wakes up. Red would not be happy with him later, but it was the least he could do after his boyfriend’s episode merely twenty minutes ago.

_Stars_ , only twenty minutes.

With a tired sigh, Sans dropped the phone on the beanbag beside him and slumped impossibly further into it. Finally, out of danger and not having to go anywhere, the skeleton let his exhaustion catch up to him — physically, mentally, and magically. For as lazy as he usually was, even this was pushing it for him. Still, last thing he needed was falling asleep in the Anti-Void. As much as that sounded _wonderful_ right now, Sans needed to know why the Gang was in his Universe. It was obviously on Nightmare’s orders, but the _why_ was killing him.

Why were they messing with the Original Undertale? He didn’t necessarily think they were untouchable, but still. Why them? Why did they need Frisk specifically? It had to have been for bad reasons if they felt the need to kill him off first.

He heaved another, far more annoyed sigh, rubbing at his temple as a headache started to bloom in his skull. One night with his family. That was all he wanted.

It seemed he was always at the fault of these nights being ruined recently.

Vaguely, the murmured “What _are_ these?” broke through Sans’ train of thought. He decided whatever that was would be better to focus on than his own depressive mind, so he cracked open an eye socket and peaked around.

Undyne stood beside the singular bookshelf, Alphys still practically glued to her side. Her wings were loosely folded for once, though the feathers still curled protectively around the small lizard monster. She wasn’t on the defense, but she wasn’t relaxed either.

In her hands was a doll recreation of Outertale Sans. It must have been a copy, since the Comet they all knew was wingless. This doll had navy blue wings that faded to shimmery magenta, little stars and constellations painted onto the fabric. The Captain’s eye was squinted, scanning the little toy with confused intrigue while her other hand rubbed Alphys’ head soothingly.

It seemed innocent enough, if that wasn’t one of _Error’s_ dolls, of a copy AU nonetheless.

“Might wanna put that down, Undies,” he muttered, gaining the others’ attention.

“Why? It’s just a doll.” She held it up by its wing, raising the brow that wasn’t covered by an eyepatch. “What, is he gonna get mad at me or something?”

“Well, probably. But I’m more concerned on what that doll might represent.”

She blinked in confusion, before a panicked look crossed her face. “This isn’t a voodoo doll or something, right? I’ve been poking the shit out of it!”

He snorted but shook his head. “Nah. Worse, honestly.” Sans lazily gestured to the web above them. “Before him and Ink made a truce, Error wasn’t always very sound in the mind. ‘s why he has to many souls in his collection; trophies of sorts.” Slipping his hand back in his pocket, he trained his eyelights on the doll in the Captain’s hands. “Nowadays, he makes dolls and things for fun or as gifts. Before, he stuffed them full of the monster dust from the person the doll represented.”

Jerking, Undyne dropped the mini-Sans and kicked it away, stepping back from the shelving. “What the fuck! Why didn’t you start with that?!”

Sans shrugged. “That’s an Outertale Sans, which is an AU he likes, and it’s on the floor rather than tied up there. It’s probably not a bad one, but I thought I’d warn you just in case.”

“That… is greatly concerning,” Toriel murmured, her wings shifting uneasily. She kept her eyes firmly glued on the rug in front of her.

A wave of sympathy washed through the smaller skeleton. “I’m really sorry about this, guys. I know this isn’t the best situation, but I promise they have it all handled.”

“Because I feel _so_ _safe_ with a forgetful asshole with a paint brush and someone that collected monster dust for a living,” Flowey grumbled, his leaves crossed like arms.

“They’re… strange, yes, but good people when you know them.”

“Didn’t you mention those bad versions of you were at that meeting the other day?” Chara asked, more curious than accusatory. He nodded in response. They hummed, looking away again. “I thought so. Recognized some names.”

That realization seemed to sink in for the rest of them, and they were far less accepting of this idea. “You just hang out with those psychos on the regular?!” Undyne yelled, flaring out her wings. Sans was glad there wasn’t much to break or knock over here.

“Like I said, they’re alright people when you get to know them.”

Papyrus was the only one that seemed eased by this, fluffing his feathers triumphantly. Triumph for what, Sans didn’t know. “So there _is_ good in them! I knew it! No monster, let alone a lazy bones like you, could POSSIBLY be evil through and through! Everyone has some kind of good in them! Nyeheheh!”

Both Chara and Sans winced a bit at that, refusing to look at each other. Even Flowey turned his head away with a grumpy huff. That sentiment, as great as it sounded, got his brother killed too many times to count. He could only hope it wouldn’t end the same in this situation.

He had enough faith in the Gang to know they’d never _permanently_ kill his brother. Not great, but about as much as the skeleton could hope for. There were some perks to being the classic universe, he supposed, as slim as they were.

“Um, I don’t know if I’d say _everyone_ , Papyrus,” Toriel corrected when she noticed Sans wasn’t going to. “I know there are certainly monsters and humans that likely don’t have the same moral compass as you or I. I’m… having a hard enough time as it is imagining those… others with any sort of redeeming traits.”

“SURELY THEY DO! Right, brother?”

Sans sighed, tilting his head a bit uncertainly. He didn’t want to raise his brother’s hopes too much, but he also wasn’t about to lie and say all of the Bad Sanses were complete and utter evil. He’d spent too much time hanging around them for that to feel right. “Maybe not _redeeming_ , more just… positive aspects. Cross is really nice and a good sparring partner for the others. Horror’s an amazing cook and always feeds everyone before himself. Dust is a good conversation partner, as crazy as he is, and Killer… he has some damn good pranks, I’ll admit. Don’t get me wrong, I do consider them some kind of a friend, but we don’t really… get along all the time. We’re _birds of a feather_ , but we don’t always stick together, if that makes sense?” He got a few unconvinced looks and a partially amused glare from his brother. He sighed, sitting up. “Look, they’re bad and in the wrong ninety percent of the time, but they have reason to be.”

“Reasons to be murderous pieces of shit?” Undyne hissed.

“Language, Undyne,” Toriel corrected halfheartedly. For once, the Captain didn’t seem to care.

“Yeah. Reasons.”

“ _Reasons_ don’t fucking excuse this, Sans!” She threw her arms up incredulously. “They tried to kill us! They tried to kill _you_ and the punk! If not for your teleporting, or that giant dragon skull thing — which we are _also_ going to talk about later — you and Frisk would be fucking _dead_. How can you sit here and defend them?!”

“I am _not_ defending them!” he growled back, earning surprised glances. Undyne’s wing twitched, but she otherwise didn’t seem phased by his sudden anger. “I said they had reasons, not that they shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions.” It was honestly insulting she’d think otherwise. He was the Judge, for stars sake. Pointing out actions and consequences while making a verdict of someone’s character was literally his job. Sure, no one but the King knew of this title, but even still, he wasn’t so naïve to just brush aside their crimes.

“Then how can you be fucking friends with any of them?!”

He narrowed his eye sockets at the fish monster. “Don’t act like you know shit about the situation, Fishsticks. I’m well aware they’re bad people, and so are they, but sometimes we have to put those things aside to do what’s best for the majority. We can’t afford to judge each other based on our shitty universes when we’re making heavy decisions. It’s better to just get along at our meetings, then get at each other’s throats afterward.”

“So, you all have… a truce, of sorts?” Asgore concluded, holding a paw up to his wounded shoulder as he finally stood from his spot on the floor. There was still a plethora of strings hung across his wings and horns, though he’d plucked most of them off, laying in a pile on the floor.

Sans relaxed into the bean bag again, closing his sockets to try and ward off the throbbing in his head. “Yeah. Of sorts. Meetings are neutral ground. We come in, we talk, we hang out afterward, then we leave. We can be buddy-buddy all we want there.” He shrugged, retracting his face into his sweatshirt collar a bit. “Heck, I think some of them hang out together afterwards, as well.” He’s pretty sure Blue and Lust mentioned bringing Horror to Farmtale or Candytale a couple times, and he knew Dream and Cross hung out together fairly often. Their truce might only extend to the Doodle Sphere, but it opened some doors elsewhere as well.

Heck, he, Dust, and Horror have spent plenty of time in Outertale together, usually after a meeting and with a few other Sanses. They weren’t so bad when you get to chat about a similar interest for a while.

That didn’t mean he was completely relaxed around either of them, and he was sure the feeling was mutual. That awkward tension would likely grow the next time they all hung out, now that they’ve actively threatened him and his family out of nowhere. They might be chill about it though. He remembered Horror brought some extra treats to make up for accidently attacking Blue’s universe not too long ago.

It was a weird companionship, but they were weird people, so who cared?

“Fine, whatever, but your truce doesn’t extend to me,” Undyne hissed, finally dropping to the ground with her arms crossed defiantly. “Next time I see their faces, they’re getting a knuckle sandwich to the face!”

Papyrus tilted his head. “You’ll make them a sandwich and throw it in their face? That seems rather rude, and a waste of food!”

“What? No, I meant I’ll punch them!”

“Oh. That is… exceedingly _more_ rude.”

The fish monster snorted, her posture relaxing a bit. “They’d deserve it for trying to mess with _my_ family!”

“I do not know how I feel about your enthusiasm to punch skeletons with my brother’s face.”

Smiling a bit, Sans pulled his injured arm from his coat pocket and laid it across his midriff. It would probably be best to keep any “blood” from staining Error’s favorite chair. He could always get a new hoodie. Thankfully, he never changed out of the navy one. As strange as it was to feel the ridges of wing slits on his back without any actual wings, at least he hadn’t bloodied his favorite jacket.

The two energetic monsters continued their conversation with growing joy, the familiarity of it all bringing slight smiles to everyone else’s faces. No one was relaxed by any means, but at least they could be allowed this small moment of tranquility before the Stars and Error came back.

The original sighed at the thought. They certainly had a lot to talk about, and he had no idea where this would all go. Usually, this stuff was solved with a quick Load or Reset, but they’d gone and gotten so many other’s involved, so who knew where it would go now? He was sure Error already had a plan, knowing the Destroyer, but that didn’t ease his anxiety much.

The fact his AU was targeted by Nightmare was scary enough. Knowing that, with one wrong move, that could potentially destroy the entire multiverse as well was even worse.

Not knowing _why_ they’d taken that risk was terrifying.

There was also the ever-present thought that he had just _died_ again hovering in the back of his mind. It’d been… so long since he’d had to feel the sensation of his bones breaking down to dust. The phantom pain of a blade through his sternum and spine reared its ugly head for a moment, almost teasingly.

At least this time, he wasn’t alone.

Yawning, Classic scrunched his eye sockets closed. It was best not to agonize over everything right now. He was sure they’d be in for a long discussion soon anyway, both with the other Sanses and Frisk later on. Stars knew the two of them could benefit from talking things out. He was sure watching him dust hadn’t brought up pleasant memories for the kid.

“You should go to sleep.”

He peaked open an eye, gazing curiously at the human in front of him. Chara stared at him emotionlessly, their hands absently rubbing at the red pot in their lap. His teeth twitched up in a smile. “You, worried about me? Is this Frisk or not?”

They squinted but didn’t snarl back like he anticipated. “You look like you’re moments away from dusting, and not from low HP. You never have any problems sleeping otherwise, so you might as well do it now.”

“I’m alright, kiddo. I gotta be awake for when the others come back.”

“And you will be. I’ll kick you awake myself if I have to. There’s no use in keeping yourself awake and useless when we’re clearly out of danger. It’ll just make you _more_ useless later.”

He stared at them oddly, not really knowing how to respond. Usually, he’d throw a pun back and brush off their concerns, claiming he got plenty of sleep and could handle a few minutes. The fact that no good jokes were coming to mind was a telltale sign that the comedian had definitely reached his limit. He had to admit, they had a point. It’d be pretty stupid to let himself dust of exhaustion now that his death would actually effect the multiverse.

“Just fucking take a nap already,” Flowey hissed, poking at the dirt in his own pot with one of his leaves. “It’d spare us at least _one_ idiot talking.”

Huffing a quiet laugh, Sans nodded minutely. “Alright. It probably won’t be very long, y’know. ‘m sure Error’s already wiped the floor with them.”

Chara rolled their eyes and turned away again. “As if time’s ever stopped you from sleeping.”

“True.” With his amused grin hidden behind his hoodie collar, Classic closed his eye socket again.

Sleep did sound good. Everything else could wait for now, as short as that wait would be.

He was really starting to understand Error’s obsession with this beanbag. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things be a bit calmer, I promise. 
> 
> Instagrams:  
> [paintedkinzy18](https://www.instagram.com/paintedkinzy18/)  
> [nerdykinzy18](https://www.instagram.com/nerdykinzy18/)  
> Tumblr (That I almost never use oops):  
> [painted-kinzy88](https://paintedkinzy-88.tumblr.com//)  
> I also now have a Deviantart, purely so I can post art I can actually put up in AO3 that isn't Tumblr:  
> [painted-kinzy18](https://www.deviantart.com/paintedkinzy18)

**Author's Note:**

> :D
> 
> Underfell Paps is one of my favorite characters, but here he's a piece of shit. Sorry not sorry. Maybe he'll be better in the future. We'll see what I decide then.
> 
> Come yell at me, as I'm sure many want to:  
> Instagrams:  
> [paintedkinzy18](https://www.instagram.com/paintedkinzy18/)  
> [nerdykinzy18](https://www.instagram.com/nerdykinzy18/)  
> Tumblr (That I almost never use oops):  
> [painted-kinzy88](https://paintedkinzy-88.tumblr.com//)  
> I also now have a Deviantart, purely so I can post art I can actually put up in AO3 that isn't Tumblr:  
> [painted-kinzy18](https://www.deviantart.com/paintedkinzy18)


End file.
